Assessment of the precision in measuring glutathione at 3 T with a MEGA-PRESS sequence in primary motor cortex and occipital cortex

Background

Glutathione (GSH) is an important brain antioxidant and a number of studies have reported its measurement by edited and nonedited localized 1H spectroscopy techniques within a range of applications in healthy volunteers and disease states. Good test–retest reproducibility is key when assessing the efficacy of treatments aimed at modulating GSH levels within the central nervous system or when noninvasively assessing changes in GSH content over time.

Purpose

To evaluate the intraday (in vitro and in vivo) and 1-month apart (in vivo) test–retest reproducibility of GSH measurements from GSH-edited MEGA-PRESS acquisitions at 3 T in a phantom and in the brain of a cohort of middle-aged and older healthy volunteers.

Study Type

Prospective.

Subjects/Phantoms

A phantom containing physiological concentrations of GSH and metabolites with overlapping spectral signatures and 10 healthy volunteers (4 F, 6 M, 55 ± 14 years old).

Field strength/Sequence

GSH-edited spectra were acquired at 3 T using the MEGA-PRESS sequence.

Assessment

The phantom was scanned twice and the healthy subjects were scanned three times (on two separate days, 1 month apart). GSH was quantified from each acquisition, with the in vivo voxels placed at the primary motor cortex (PMC) and the occipital cortex (OCC).

Statistical Tests

Mean coefficients of variation (CV) were used to assess short-term (in vitro and in vivo) and longer-term (in vivo) test–retest reproducibility.

Results

In vitro, the CV was 2.3%. In vivo, the mean intraday CV was 3.3% in the PMC and 2.4% in the OCC, while the CVs at 1 month apart were 4.6% in the PMC and 7.8% in the OCC.

Data Conclusion

GSH-edited MEGA-PRESS spectroscopy allows measurement of GSH with excellent precision.

Evidence Level

1

Technical Efficacy

Stage 2